Services

This service is held on the Sunday closest to Australia Day. 

 • The Shrine is a memorial to honour the service and sacrifice of Victorians and Australians in war, conflict, peacekeeping and peacemaking.
• At the week’s close we pause to remember those who have served and sacrificed. We remember them today as we have always remembered them—now and forever.
• The Shrine stands for remembering, today and every day, that service and sacrifice are fundamental and relevant in creating, maintaining and protecting our national values and way of life.
• Service and sacrifice are ongoing and continuous as is our commemoration of it.
• Here all service is equal, and all are welcome.
• By attending you are taking part in commemoration of service and sacrifice and we thank you

The 2/21 Infantry Battalion, part of 23 Brigade of 8 Division, began assembling at Trawool in central Victoria on 11 July 1940.

Approximately half the recruits were from Melbourne and the rest from rural Victoria. Training was conducted at Trawool until 23 September when the battalion began to move to Bonegilla, near Wodonga on the New South Wales-Victoria border. It made the 235km journey on foot, arriving on 4 October. Training resumed and occupied the battalion until it commenced another move on 23 March 1941 for Darwin in the Northern Territory. It had been earmarked to reinforce Dutch troops on the island of Ambon in the event of a Japanese attack. Although military sense dictated the battalion should be deployed as early as possible, to prepare defences and train in the conditions in which it would fight, it was thought a premature deployment may provoke Japanese action. Thus, the battalion would be held in Darwin until Japan's intentions were clear. 

The 4th Light Horse Regiment was formed as the divisional cavalry regiment for the 1st Australian Division on 11 August 1914. Belying traditional stereotypes, over 20 percent of the original regiment were city dwellers from Melbourne. The regiment sailed from Melbourne on 19 October 1914 and disembarked in Egypt on 10 December.